KC

[Kcwhippet]

Thanks. We got back late last night from a very interesting weekend. Sailed from Stratford, CT to Port Jefferson, NY Saturday so we could do lunch at the Dockside restaurant where we went on our honeymoon. Perfect conditions - the wind was just right and we made it all the way on a single tack at just about hull speed. Had a wonderful lunch and walk around then headed back, but the wind died to puffs and we had to motor back the whole way getting back to our mooring about 7:30pm. Yesterday was a whole different story. We went on a friend's boat to give them more rail weight because the weather had changed dramatically - 15 to 25 mph winds gusting to 35; seas rolling the length of LI Sound at 4 to 6 really close. So we went out with 7 crew for a 5 leg race outside Milford Harbor. Except for the downwind leg, it was a real roller coaster ride - a real blast. Lots of fun until we were coming in and dropping sail. The skipper was standing up in the cockpit doing something woth a new device he had for flaking the sail and the boom came over, caught him in the forehead and knocked him to the deck. We got him propped up and came into Milford Yacht Club (first one in sight). They let us come up to one of their slips and had called 911 right after our call so EMT's were on the way. Meanwhile, a Physical Therapist came off one of the boats we were racing and made him comfortable, asked a bunch of questions and poked and prodded a bit, determining there was no serious damage. The skipper was sitting on the hatch over all the mooring lines, so other boats tossed over some of their lines and helped tie us up. After they took him off to the hospital, they told us we could leave the boat there as long as need be, and another (very experienced) crew said they'd take the boat over to its regular berth, which is at another facility, whenever the owners wanted. Anyway, we cleaned up the boat and went over to the hospital. Not much news then, so we headed out home. We got home just before the phone rang. Apparently, they examined him (x-rays, etc.) at the hospital and determined the worst would be big bruises on his head and butt along with some decent pain. In fact, he had been discharged and was home taking a shower before we even made it home - of course we had 120 miles to go. Anyway, it was a good time, all in all, and we had a lot of fun. Oh yeah, among the wines we had were a 98 Glenora Blanc de Noir, a 2002 Bonnacorsi Red Monkey Syrah and a 92 Dom P.